Research On Modeling Of The Maturity Of Transactive Memory In Knowledge-Based Team

In order to respond to quickly changes in current market environment of the knowledge economy era, knowledge has become an important resource for the enterprise to gain the core competitive advantages. Depending on the knowledge-based team to develop creative solutions to problems, to execute diversity tasks, and to deal with complex internal and external environment, has become an inevitable trend of development. Knowledge-based team is usually composed of knowledge workers with different knowledge backgrounds. With the communication and interaction, the activity of knowledge sharing is promoted within the team. Therefore, the unique skill or knowledge of experts in different fields can be integrated. So the knowledge-based team has a broad perspective to deal with team tasks. However, how to perform tasks efficiently with members having different knowledge structures depends on the extent of knowledge sharing within teams. Thence, it is a key challenge that how to integrate, coordinate and application of knowledge of members.Recently, as an important mechanism of team knowledge processing, transactive memory has become receiving the widespread attention of scholars. It is a cooperative division of labor system to code, storage and extract with different fields of knowledge. Therefore, for a knowledge-based team, having transactive memory can not only strengthen the team’s capability of acquiring knowledge, but also improve the efficiency of knowledge processing. Then team performance could be improved.In order to further explore the formation and factors of transactive memory in knowledge-based teams, we set up a computer model. Through computational experiments, the forming process of transactive memory could be simulated. Further, to explore the relationship between task types and transactive memory with team heterogeneity. Mainly including the following three aspects:(1) To interpret the formation of transactive memory in knowledge-based teams. Based on the analysis of literatures related with knowledge-based teams and transactive memory, illustrating a series of cognitive processes of transactive memory in a knowledge-based team which includes identification and allocation of team tasks, retrieval and coordination of team knowledge, and formation of cognitive structures. Then, the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional experimental management method and the computing experimental research method would be compared. And we found that the traditional method is insufficient in classification of task types and accounting all the aspects of team heterogeneity. More than this, this method tends to ignore the process of team interaction. The computing experimental research method is helpful to observe the dynamic formation of transactive memory combining microscopic and macroscopic views.(2) To establish the model of maturity of transactive memory. In order to simulate the real-world situations in computer, the model of knowledge-based teams, team members, team tasks and transactive memory would be abstracted by analyzing in detail the formation of transactive memory and the various factors of the team. Further, the concept of maturity of transactive memory will be raised to measure the transctive memory. So the model of maturity of transactive memory is proposed.(3) To simulate of the formation of transactive memory and to explore the relationship between team task type and transactive memory with team heterogeneity. In the knowledge-based team, the heterogeneity among the members and the task are believed to be the basis of team transactive memory. Based on the model of maturity of transactive memory, computing experiment should be designed to simulate the formation of transactive memory. The model would be test and verify by the results. We further differentiate the team tasks into four types, make a detailed description to the member attributes, and measure the transactive memory considering both the general heterogeneity and the heterogeneity of knowledge. The results show that teams are able to complete most of tasks with low maturity of transactive memory; and the task structure effect is more obvious; while the task effects of transactive memory would be weaker with the expansion of team size, and enhanced with the increasing of team heterogeneity.The research results of this article contribute to direct organizations to form high efficient knowledge-based team with members from different domains, and also, to the research of knowledge-based team tansactive memory.